Suspect Arrested in Fatal Shooting of Ohio Mother

DAYTON, Ohio – Authorities in Ohio have arrested a man in the shooting death of a woman whose 4-year son was abducted by the gunman and left unharmed at a highway rest area.

Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer said Monday that 22-year-old Charlie W. Myers of Columbus man was taken into custody and arrested.

Jennifer Nelson, 29, was found dead at her Dayton home on Friday after a couple discovered her son, William, at an Interstate 70 rest stop in central Ohio.

Plummer says Myers confessed to involvement in the case.

Nelson 4-year-old son was discovered at a central Ohio rest stop Friday by travelers from Maryland. Authorities say the boy told them a strange man had shot his mother in their home.

The travelers who found the boy, Mike and Judith McConnell, said Sunday on NBC's "Today" that they took William into their warm vehicle and contacted authorities.

They said he told them a strange man had entered the home without knocking and shot his mother. His account, including his home address and parents' names, led to the discovery of Nelson's body.

"I began asking him questions, and he told me that a stranger had come into his house without knocking," Mike McConnell said from Baltimore. "And I said 'Well, where was your mommy?' And he said 'He shot my mommy."'

Nelson's husband, Eddie Nelson, was at work at the time she was slain.

On NBC's "Today" on Monday, Eddie Nelson said his son was "still terrified. I don't know that he fully understands what's going on. He's just in total shock right now."

Explaining how the little boy was able to give specific information to authorities, Nelson said: "He's a very sharp kid. He's like a sponge, he just soaks everything up. My wife, especially, insisted that we work on him learning his address, learning the phone numbers, just important things ... a lot of things people would take for granted, and it saved him."

Vickie Nelson, the boy's grandmother, said earlier that her son Eddie's car had been stolen in Columbus about a week and a half before Christmas.